The Legal System of Civil-Military Integration in the United States: Characteristics and Enlightenments(No. 138, 2017)

2017-12-07

By Shen Hengchao, Research Team on “The Legislation of Civil-Military Integration”, Research Department of Innovation Development, DRC

Research Report No. 138, 2017 (Total 5213) 2017-10-24

Abstract: The United States has achieved highly civil-military integration, and its experience in legal system construction makes good reference to China. The United States has no special law on civil-military integration, but its constitution provides a principal stipulation on civil-military integration, and US laws including the Defense Technology Conversion, Reinvestment and Transition Assistance, the Federal Acquisition Reform Act, Regulatory Competition in Contract Law and relevant laws and regulations have all made clear provisions on civil-military integration. These laws and regulations have formed a compact and well-organized legal system for civil-military integration. In the United States, civil-military integration refers to the civil-military hi-tech integration, mainly including the manufacturing of military products converted into civilian ones and vice versa as well as the development of military and civilian dual-use technologies. The US civil-military integration encourages market competition while following the principle of ensuring national security. The experience of the United States suggests that the construction of civil-military integration legal system should clearly define the concept of civil-military integration. The legal system construction is a systematic project that requires well-coordinated efforts made by various sides to form a complete system. In addition, apart from the coordinating institutions, there should be relevant departments to be responsible for the implementation of the legal system.

Key words: civil-military integration, legal system, the United States